


"Inquisitor"

by SpiritLock



Series: Cullen Rutherford & Krista Trevelyan [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Clumsiness, F/M, Free Climbing, Humor, Mildly Explicit, POV Alternating, Sexual thoughts, Word Trigger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-27 17:38:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5057734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritLock/pseuds/SpiritLock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krista starts to suffer a reaction when Cullen calls her 'Inquisitor'.</p><p>Cullen doesn't understand why the Inquisitor has become clumsy, but only sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Inquisitor"

Cullen tried to remember when all this started. When had the Inquisitor become clumsy? She wasn’t always like that, but sometimes it seemed like the link between her mind and body was suddenly cut. And in those moments, sharp or breakable objects needed to be kept away from her. Not to mention food or drink. 

He could still smell the ale she spilt over him last night in the tavern. Practically a whole tankard went over the front of him. All he’d done was tap her on the shoulder, and address her when she turned to face him. And there was the time in the mess. Cullen had just gone to ask her something, and the next thing he knew he had a spoonful of soup running down his face. 

Whenever she came to see him in his office, he made sure all the bottles were off his desk, after she managed to knock a couple of them flying across the floor. He was finding glass shards for days afterwards. Not to mention the incident during blade practice. The dagger went backwards missing his ear by a whisker. In those moments, the Inquisitor was definitely not safe to be around. 

Krista knew it was the word that was causing the problem. If Cullen said it and she wasn’t prepared, it spelt disaster. The word had become a trigger, and the more he said it the worse it got. And it wasn’t something she could avoid either. It was her title, Inquisitor. In the War Room, she could just about deal with it. But outside, if he used it, she was screwed. 

It was all Sera’s fault. Her friends knew she had a thing about Cullen and teased her. That was fine, she could manage the jokes. But it was the image Sera put into her head one night that started it all off. “Eh Quizzy. Just imagine him busy down in your lady bits; and as he eats you, growling at you ‘Inquisitor!’” Now when he called her Inquisitor, that’s what ran through her head, the word sounding dirty when he said it. And her body reacted before her mind could step in to shut it down. There had already been consequences, and it wasn’t getting any better.

Maker, that was going to make completing her challenge complicated. He couldn’t be around, just in case. She had a bet on, that she could climb all the high spots in Skyhold. Krista was a good free climber after years of practice, and most of the towers and roofs in Skyhold didn’t present a problem. It would always be just after dawn when everything was still quiet, usually with Sera in tow, as witness. If it looked like she would be seen, Sera would whistle, and Krista would stealth.

So far, they were all complete, except Cullen’s tower. And she had fifty sovereigns riding on the outcome. Krista knew that Cullen would often go out for a walk early, sometimes even out of Skyhold, and had estimated she had about quarter of an hour to do it. It was a little tight should she run into problems, but doable. They planned for it the following morning.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Krista and Sera hid in the empty tower just along from one of the side doors to his office, waiting for Cullen to leave. As they saw him go down the stairs into the lower courtyard, they crept forward along the battlements. Sera then watched until she saw him go out of the gate.

“OK go!” whispered Sera.

Krista started her ascent, same as usual. Skyhold was old, and some of the stones had crumbled or fallen out, giving her places for handholds and footholds. This was going better than she expected. She was just over two thirds of the way up when she heard Sera.

“Shit, General Uptight is coming back!” hissed Sera. “Bloody climb faster!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Krista cursed. This was not what she needed. She tried to speed up her pace, as Sera kept telling her where he was. She wasn’t going to make it before he got back, so she stealthed. This made it harder, as she couldn’t see her own hands and feet properly. 

When she reached the top, and climbed on to the crenulations, Sera was already gone, more than likely hiding. She unstealthed. Krista’s heart was now racing, the adrenaline pumping through her. Shit, she was now stuck up on top of Cullen’s tower; with him now back in his office. As she looked down she could see the door was still open. 

Shit, she couldn’t go back down that way, he might hear her. It would have to be the other side, but when she looked at the roof beams and boards between the two sides, she could see holes and a tree in the corner growing down into the loft. Did he actually sleep in that loft with holes in his roof? Maker this was going to be awkward to negotiate.

Krista tried to keep to the side as much as she could, but right in the middle of her path, the crenulations dropped away. She would have to step on the boards to get round. This was turning into a nightmare. Carefully, she put one foot onto the boards, they creaked, but held. Then she gingerly moved her other foot over. They creaked louder. She stopped just in case he heard. But nothing. She exhaled in relief. 

Then as she went to move, she heard a snap and the board underneath her broke. The next thing Krista knew she was slipping downward. Luckily she managed to grab onto a nearby beam as she started to fall. Now she was hanging from the roof in Cullen’s loft above his bed, clinging onto a beam which didn’t look much better than the board she crashed through. 

“Who’s up there?” she heard Cullen shout. The ladder creaked as he started to climb it. No, no, no, this is not happening, she thought. There she was, dangling into Cullen’s bedroom, hands gripped onto a beam that could give way at any moment, and there he was, finally at the top of the ladder. He was looking at her now, not believing what he was seeing; saying he was confused would have been an understatement. She saw him rub the back of his neck.

“Hello Cullen” she said trying to smile. “I wonder if I could trouble you for some help here. I suspect this beam isn’t going to hold out much longer.” 

This seemed to snap him back to his senses. “Hang on” he said moving across to the bed and climbing up.

“I am hanging on” she replied, now a little desperate as she could hear cracking. Whatever you do, please don’t say the word, she thought.

She could now see him standing below her. He could just about reach her calves. 

“You’ll have to drop down. I’ll tell you when and I’ll catch you” he said. He was looking at her. “Inquisitor...” he began, but she’d let go and was falling. He’d done it, he’d said the word. 

Cullen managed to just about catch her, but they both crashed onto the bed, with an oof and an oww. The Inquisitor ended sprawled out on top of him, with one knee pressed between his legs. A few inches closer and Cullen knew he’d have been more than just winded. Why had she let go, before he’d told her he was ready? And why on earth was she hanging there in the first place?

“Maker’s breath! What is going on? Why were you hanging from my roof? And why on earth did you let go before I’d told you to?” his voice came out a tad sharp. The thought of where her knee could have ended up still on his mind.

“Cullen. I’m so sorry.” He could hear her voice was shaky, and he felt a little bad. 

This could have been worse he realised, she was probably shaken. Her face was still turned away from him. “Inquisitor?” he asked more gently. Cullen heard a faint whimper and felt her shudder. He now thought maybe she was hurt. “Inquisitor?” she now mewled and shuddered again. 

There was definitely something wrong. He carefully turned her face to look at her. She seemed to be almost grimacing. He looked at her eyes, she looked slightly bewildered. “Inquis...” was all he got out before she was kissing him. Cullen was taken aback. This was not what he expected, but it was what he’d thought about. Many times.

Cullen then felt her jerk back, her face shocked. “I couldn’t...you said...oh shit” she was blushing furiously.

“Inquisitor, what is...” he started to say, when she interrupted, again shuddering. 

“Please, please don’t call me that right now. Just use my name” her voice pleading.

“Why not?” Cullen was now puzzled. This day was becoming weirder by the minute. First he finds the Inquisitor, damn, Krista, dangling from a beam in his bedroom, then she kisses him, and now he’s not supposed to use her title. What in the Maker’s name was happening? His hand went to rub his neck again.

A manic laugh came out. “You don’t want to know, trust me” she said. “I need to calm down” she added exhaling, and rolled off, sitting next to him on the bed. He was glad her knee was gone from its position.

Cullen sat up. He was going to get to the bottom of this. “Inq...Krista. Let’s take it one at a time” his tone direct, but steady. “Why were you hanging from a beam in my loft?”

Krista turned to him. “I was free climbing your tower. It was the last one for my challenge to climb all the high points in Skyhold. There’s fifty sovereigns riding on this. You came back before I’d finished, and I was trying to get to the other side and climb down before you caught me. If it hadn’t been for your rickety roof, I would have been fine.” 

Cullen looked at her. “You were what?” he asked. 

“Free climbing. You climb without ropes or harnesses, just your hands and feet using holes you find.” She smiled weakly.

He regretted even asking now. Needless to say, from what she said, this was the last part. That meant she’s been up all the other high points already. Maker’s breath! Just the thought of it made him feel uncomfortable. He rubbed his forehead. 

Cullen went to speak, and then it dawned on him. She’d reacted, and then kissed him when he used her title. All those times before, the ale, the soup, the bottles, the dagger. It was when he called her Inquisitor. He revised what was going to say. “Right, OK” he began. “So I have to ask. Why did you kiss me? And what’s wrong with your title?” Cullen watched her eyes open wide, and she then turned away, swallowing. 

She sighed. “Um...they’re...sort of connected. When you use...my title...” he saw her scrunch up her eyes briefly. “There’s...a reaction”. She was now blushing again. Cullen decided to press the advantage. 

Krista just wanted this day to end now. Sitting there with Cullen, still nursing the image of him between her legs, whilst trying to have a conversation about kissing him. She could feel the flush on her. She heard Cullen again.

“A reaction?” his voice enquiring.

Oh for fuck’s sake she thought, and turned to look at him. He was smiling. “Cullen?” she asked.

“I was curious...” He moved closer. ”...Inquisitor.” It took Krista a moment to process what was happening.

“Shut up, Cullen” she groaned. If he called her that one more time.

“It was just a question...Inquisitor” he said now smirking.

Krista lunged forward for his mouth, but he caught her, pushed her back on to the bed and kissed her. It began quite gently, but she couldn’t resist pressing her tongue against his lips. When he opened his mouth to let her in and pushed his tongue to meet hers, she let out a moan. Her hands slid around his back trying to drag him closer. Maker, she wanted more, she wanted him.

Cullen broke the kiss, but then started kissing her neck, and rested his hand on her hip, stroking it. Krista felt her heart beating faster, the heat flowing into her, her limbs weak. She gasped.

“Tell me more about this reaction” he asked his mouth against her neck, the vibrations from his voice reverberating into her.

Krista’s defences were completely taken down, and she confessed everything. 

She heard a little laugh and Cullen looked up. “I see” was all he said.

Cullen began kissing her neck again, then moving his way down her body. Krista felt his hands start to unbutton her pants, and she let out a long, loud moan. He paused and looked up. He was smiling, with that little smile that made the corners of his mouth go up slightly, accentuating the scar above his lip. She felt her stomach fluttering.

“Did you want me to growl...Inquisitor?” he asked, his voice husky, but with more than a tinge of humour.

Krista couldn’t hold back from laughing now. “Cullen, I don’t care, just don’t stop” she then said sighing.

She briefly wondered if this was going to make it worse. But then, when she felt his mouth on her and his tongue moving below, all semblance of sense just fell away. He could call her Inquisitor any way he liked.


End file.
